Brighton & Hove’s Wonderland – a talk and heritage film screening with Dr Frank Gray
Date and time: Tuesday, 23rd September 2025 at 2 – 3pm
Location: The Hop 50+, Cornerstone Community Centre, St John’s Church, Church Road, Hove BN3 2FL
Price: Free, no need to book
The end of the 19th Century was an era of technological wonder. Alongside electricity, the telephone and recorded sound, three vision technologies became very popular – photography, the magic lantern and film. Brighton & Hove emerged as a centre for all of these marvels. The sea-going electric car made its way through the sea, photographic studios lined the seafront, a film studio was established in Hove and lantern and film shows were screened in the theatres, music halls and on the piers. This talk introduces these wonders and looks at those first films to be made and seen in Brighton from 1895.
Dr Frank Gray is an early film historian, a member of Days of Wonder, a curator of film exhibitions for Brighton & Hove Museums, the co-founder of Cinecity (the Brighton Film Festival) and the retired Director of Screen Archive South East at the University of Brighton. It collects, preserves and shares films made in Brighton & Hove and the region.
Days of Wonder is a screen heritage programme of events and activities that includes a newly commissioned exhibition by artists Chahine Fellahi and Annis Joslin entitled Play Back Forward, which is on from 4 October 2025 to 12 April 2026 at Hove Museum of Creativity.
Days of Wonder is presented by Brighton & Hove Museums, Corridor, Screen Archive South East and videoclub. Supported by National Lottery Heritage Fund, Arts Council England and Film Hub South East/BFI.
